Nikita Kadan’s “Procedure room” excluded from the 3rd Annual Xinjiang Biennale because of political issues

Artist Nikita Kadan’s project “Procedure room”(2009-2010) was recently excluded from the 3rd Annual Xinjiang Biennale, “New Art on the Silk Road,” where he had initially been invited to participate. Kadan received an email from the organizers that his project had been rejected in the end, because a representative from the XinJiang government had found some “political issues” in the works. According to the same source, 80 artists were rejected out of the 120 originally invited international artists.

“Procedure room” is a project about the widespread practices of police torture in contemporary Urkaine. It consists of a set of souvenir plates printed with drawings of instances of police torture and the text of an email dialogue between Yekaterina Mishchenko and Kadan. The project speaks to the absence of visual documentation around torture practices, and their typical ‘invisibility,’ also drawing attention to the collective responsibilities of all those who know and remain silent. More information here.

According to the organizers, the exhibition ‘New Art on the Silk Road’, “draws parallels between the region’s historical influence and contemporary resonance.” The Biennale is meant to represent “a celebration of the exchange of art and culture that the Silk Road embodied, and which is even further amplified in today’s globalized world.” The Biennale features works from contemporary artists in Central Asia, China, and the Mediterranean region.

The 3rd Annual Xinjiang Biennale is supported by the central government of China and co-organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Xinjiang province.